Bass Player: Chris Squire

Up until this point in the Yes catalogue, the progress of the band was uncontroversial. A new drummer here and a new keyboard player there and a new guitar player all came and made their subtle and nuanced mark on the Yes sound. In 1980, however, things took a very strange turn, at least in the eyes of the ardent Yes fan. Following the decision by Rick Wakeman and vocalist Jon Anderson to leave the band, Chris Squire, Alan White and Steve Howe brought in label mates Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes aka The Buggles. THE BUGGGLES! Purveyors of the bubble gum anthem ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’? It was a real leap of faith and many of the Yes fans were appalled and didn’t know what to expect.

The subsequent 1980 album, ‘Drama’ was surprisingly strong and many, not all, of the fans who had feared a ‘sell out’ were pleasantly surprised. There were few compromises and the energy and intensity was still there. The complx time signatures, Prog elements, great arrangements and THAT bass sound.

The attached transcription is for the tune ‘Into The Lens’. There are some real challenges in the reading department so I suspect this will take most people a few run throughs to get at the detail but, once you have it down, it’s a great chart to play.